Noisy Transaxle

[bob]

I have a John Deere 160 from the 80's with a Peerless 801-038A transaxle which has served me well but now it is getting noisy. It has a whinny or almost dry like noise to it. Is there anything I can do to it by taking it apart or is it a case of it is just worn out and needs to be replaced. Thanks

[Skywatcher]

Hi Bob

These JD 100 series tractors with the Kawasaki engine were built to last as your unit has proven. What I have found with these transmissions is the input pinion shaft bearings along with the pinion an crown gear do eventually wear and become noisy. The bentonite grease in the transaxle also tends to harden up over time and no longer gets to all the moving parts. Fixing this noise may be a simple matter of dismantling the transaxle, cleaning out all the old grease and re-packing with John Deere Corn Head grease (P/N-AN102562) or some fresh factory original grease if you can find it anywhere. It is a good idea to check the bearings and mesh of the crown and pinion while the transaxle is apart and replace if necessary. Hope this points you in the right direction,

Sky

[38racing]

Following. I was given a jd160 and it has some issues staying in gear.

[bgsengine]

Following. I was given a jd160 and it has some issues staying in gear.

If its a peerless pancake, plan on replacing the shifter keys and even then , may have to also replace the shift gears that they engage. Rebuilt a lot of them back in the day, not a fun job, and looking at today's prices (where they are even available) , cheaper to just buy a new tractor.

[Arkie]

I've put some 85/90 or better yet 90 140 diff oil in those Bentonite transaxles with some good results.


If I take one apart that has the bentonite grease I DO NOT go back with the POS bentonite grease. I just use EP 2 gun grease and some differential oil.

Bentonite grease is expensive and just cakes up and does not really provide good lubrication inside transaxles and actually shortens the life of a transaxle due to poor lubrication of the gearing/bearings, etc.
I've had to take as many as three of those Bentonite greased peerless to make a useable one.
You state that it skips.. Next time you have it apart look very close at the length of the teeth all around the big ring gear. I've seen some that the ring gear teeth were not hardened good and for like 1-2 inchs the adjacent teeth tips would be worn down just enough to allow the input pinion gear to lose mesh and cause the skip. Also worn down because the bentonite grease was not providing proper lubrication. (designed to purposely wear out)